The experience: The Minion Dance!

The trick: A post-ride after-party that sends ‘em home with a smile

Image: UniversalHave you ever wanted to dance with a Minion? Do you like seeing yourself up on the big screen? Are you confident that disco balls will come back in style at any point? If you’ve answered yes to any or all of these questions, you’re going to love the exit queue for Minion Mayhem.

Universal cleverly adds a final touch to the proceedings. When you exit the theater, you walk into a new room that features employees dressed as Minions. It also has a giant television screen up on the wall. Using CGI technology, this huge display shows Minions interacting with guests as they leave the area.

Universal did such a great job in designing this portion that it sometimes works as a bottleneck. Guests have so much fun dancing along with the Minions under the disco ball that they don’t want to leave. It’s a clever kind of post-ride character meeting plus a bit of computer animation magic. The trick is simple to do since it involves looped footage of animated characters. Somehow, it elevates the entire ride, though. Everyone exits Minion Mayhem smiling. And that’s the entire point of the ride.